


Serving Time

by Hopeopiana



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prison, Gangs, M/M, Prison, Social Anxiety, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-19 07:52:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15505779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeopiana/pseuds/Hopeopiana
Summary: Keith has finally crossed the line. Without anyone to save him this time, he is sentenced to twenty years in prison for a crime he easily could have avoided. He is tired of looking for trouble, but trouble seems to find him, even in here and Keith cannot decide if being reunited with one of the greatest people he has ever known is good or bad. This said person has also changed drastically in appearances since Keith last saw him, but has his mind, thoughts and feelings changed as well?





	1. Welcome To Prison

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prison story, a story with no means of realness to it. It means that nothing that is in this story is checked for facts, except languages. I’m trying to make it sound realistic, but most of the prison facts are not double checked so it is probably a lot of wrong in this.
> 
> But I still hope the story is good.

“Welcome to your new home.”

The grass was green here. He didn’t actually expect that. He had heard bad stories about places like these, but at least the grass was green.

On this particular day though, the sun had decided to not show itself, and hid behind big, dark clouds that made the actually yellow building, look dark, grey and abandoned (if you didn’t count the guards that patrolled the place).

Keith didn’t exactly look forward to it, but what did he expect? You commit a crime and you have to pay for it. But by the time Keith would manage to pay his whole sentence, he would be in the middle of his forties, his entire youth just gone with the wind.

It’s not like he killed someone, or hurt someone (a lot). But still he needed to sit here for twenty whole fucking years for something that he absolutely didn’t want to do, but got convinced to do at the last minute. It’s almost scary how you could convincesomeone so much just by saying the right words, and Keith had fallen right into the trap.

But hey; at least the grass was green.

They opened the front gates and the van Keith was sitting in drove through. Keith, who was leaning against the window, noticed that there were two gates. It was probably built that way so that if an inmate managed to get through the first gate, they would still be locked up by the second one. Keith thought that was clever. Now, even if he didn’t ever actually plan to escape, he was planning an escape.

It involved something like climbing the fence, and use whatever clothing he had to get across the wire, but he didn’t know what to do with the guards. But it didn’t really matter, because Keith was going to sit it out.

The van drove through the second gate and up the hill. Keith noticed something that looked like a running track. Right now, nobody was out there, but he sure hoped he would be able to use it.

There was five other people in the van with Keith. Well, five other to-be prisoners. There was one guard sitting in the front beside the driver, and one in the back. The one driving the truck however seemed to be another prisoner. Unlike Keith and the other five guys, this one was wearing a dark blue uniform; Keith’s was grey and so were the others. The guards were wearing black, from what he could see. So now he knew; stay away from the ones wearing dark blue, grey and black. It probably would make everythingeasier anyway.

The van drove almost all the way up to the front doors, but stopped a few seconds away. The guard in the front turned to the rest of them.

“Okay, people,” he said. “This is how it’s gonna happen. You are all gonna walk in a nice line up to the front,” Keith knew he already didn’t like the voice of this guard. “The chains will be removed once you’re on the inside. From there on you will get your picture and fingerprints taken. Some stuff will be given to you, and I recommend you hold onto those things, because we will only give it to you once. After that you have to pay for it. Whether you get money from the outside or from work on the inside, is entirely up to you. You will get assigned to a bed in a room of about six, which will be temporary until we can assign you to a real room, which only has two beds. So, you get one roomie for the rest of your stay here, is that clear?” he asked. Keith didn’t answer, but a few of the other guys nodded their heads, while one over eager guy said “yes, sir!”

“Could I say something, sir?” The guy driving the van asked. The guard looked suspicious for a while, but let him speak. “Some of the guys on the inside likes to get a little eager. They will probably whistle, applaud and make as much noise as possible on your way in. What I say is keep your cool and ignore it. If you fight, you get beaten and if you cry you will never hear the end of it. There is also a couple of guys you should stay away from at all times,” he said, looking up at the guard, as if he asked for permission to go on. He continued after a second. “The first dude is Lotor. Though he is called the prince for some reasons. Don’t ask me what he’s done, but the guy can get real angry and it doesn’t end well for the person whose angered him. Then there’s Sendak. He’s a part of Lotor’s gang. He gets into a killing mood if you just look at him, and he’s the one that will go after you if you anger Lotor. He is dumb as a puppet, but vicious. Then there’s Hunk. I’m not saying you should stay away from Hunk, he’s actually very sweet. He’s the one serving food. Don’t anger him though, because then you will most likely starve. Then there’s Shiro…” “Okay, times up!” Keith looked up at the guy in the front. Had he just said Shiro? He couldn’t have. He couldn’t be here. Keith must have imagined it.

“Okay folks. Time to form a line!” the guard in the front said. They all got up and out. Keith was the last one in grey. He looked around himself again. He noticed two guards on each side of the doors, and a few patrolling around the building. Chains were on his hands, feet and around his waist, rattling as he walked. It was to make it harder for him to run.

But Keith didn’t want to run. He didn’t want to be here, but Keith was tired. He just wanted to get all of this over with and go to sleep.

And then the doors opened up and in they went. There were no other prisoners yet. “Come up to me, please, one at a time,” a guard said. His voice was stern, but he didn’t seem like a brute. The first in grey walked up to him, and the guard took of his shackles. Then another guard led him into another room. “Next,” the first guard said, and so it continued until Keith too was freed from his shackles.

He was led into the next room where a camera station was set up, and further down the line, what looked like a fingerprint station.

“Your name?” the guy by the camera asked. Keith looked up at him and proceeded to go in front of the camera, “Kogane.”

“Look into the camera, Kogane” Keith did as he was told. The blitz went off once and he was done.“You may proceed.” When Keith walked past the screen he saw that his picture was on it. His expression looked bored or tired; he couldn’t really decide, but overall, it was dull.

The one standing by the fingerprints was a woman, one who looked soft. It didn’t fool Keith though. He had met a few women that looked nice, but wasn’t.

“We have new system. We don’t use ink here anymore. Less messy,” the woman said, wearing a smile. She placed a piece of glass a little bigger than a human hand on top of what looked like a scanner.

“Don’t worry, it won’t give you cancer… probably,” she joked and held out her hand. Keith hesitantly gave her his own hand and she very gently put it down on the glass. Keith saw a green light go back and forth once.

“Thank you,” she said as she let go and switched out the glass. “Your other hand, please?” Keith did as he was told.

“Thank you, again,” she said. “You may go through that door and you will see the commissary. They will give you some things,” she smiled. Keith looked towards the open door. At least he wasn’t followed by a guard this time.

Through the door he ws met by what the girl said. It basically looked like a little store.

“Hello, what’s your name?” the guy behind the counter asked. He was wearing blue, but he looked awfully happy were he sat. He didn’t look like a bad guy at all.

“Keith... Kogane,” he Keith said, hesitantly. “Ah, okay. Let’s see.” The guy seemed to be looking at a computer. “Wait, is that a computer? You have access to internet?” Keith asked and walked closer.

“Yes, it’s a computer, but no, there’s no internet here. However the machines are connected to each other,” he said before commenting, “Nice picture.” Keith rolled his eyes. The guy started fiddling with other machines. To Keith it looked like rocket science, but the guy was basically only printing out his badge.

“Here we go,” the guy said as he attached a little clip to the card. “This is to be visible on you at all times, unless you want the guards to go nuts,” he explained. “I suggest just clipping it to the breast pocket or the edge of your shirt,” he said. Keith clipped it to the pocket.

“Great. Alright, what size are you?” he asked as he rolled away on his chair. “Uhm, small,” Keith said hesitantly. “Cool, me too. Well, in shirts. I’m an XL in pants, cause I have ridiculously long legs. Though it makes the pants extremely big in the other places too.” the guy said as he found a new shirt, still grey though. “You are a ‘small’ in pants too?”

“What did you say?” Keith got confused by the guy’s question and he felt his face heat up. “Your pants’ size. Is your pants size small?” he asked again, looking almost as confused as Keith. He didn’t understand how Keith could misunderstand that question.

“Oh… uh, medium,” Keith said. “Alright,” the guy said. The ones he found were just as grey as his shirt. The guy packed the new clothes into a big net bag. In it was already what looked like a pillow and covers. “I’m putting a toothbrush and a bar of soap in this little pocket here. There’s no toothpaste, because it’s considered a luxury item. You can buy it though, later. There’s also some toilet paper in there. Two rolls to be exact and a big towel. If you need more, you gotta buy more. So unless you got someone on the outside sending you money, I suggest you find a job,” he said.

“How do I do that?” Keith asked. “Uhm, you need to fill out a form, which you actually get from me, but how about you find your block first, then you can come back to me?” he said.

“Hey, what’s taking so long?” The driver from before came through the next door and asked. “I’ve just finished,” the other one said. “Chill out, man. Here’s your stuff,” Keith was handed the bag, which was surprisingly light.

“My name’s Matt, by the way,” he smiled. Keith moved his eyes quickly to Matt’s badge and he read the words ‘M. Holt’ stamped on it. He didn’t reach out his hand to shake, but his eyes lingered on Keith’s for a moment. “Nice to meet you,” he said.

“Yeah, you too,” Keith said. “Make sure to come back. You seem like a good guy. I’ll help you find a decent job,” Matt answered before he dove back into the computer system. Keith felt relieved. He didn’t actually want to look for friends, but it was nice to know that someone was looking out for him.

“Come on,” the other guy said and Keith followed him. He caught Matt looking at him as he left, but didn’t think twice about it. They met up with the other greys and the blue guy led them all down the hall. “Y’all ready?” Keith didn’t exactly know what he meant, until the guy pushed open the double doors. They went through what seemed to be the cafeteria and a lot of people were sitting there and almost all of them were making noise. They all seemed to sort of stomp their feet in sync and there was more whistles and catcalls in there than Keith had ever heard throughout his entire life. Someone threw a roll of toilet paper passed them and Keith didn’t really understand how someone could waste toilet paper like that, especially in here.

“Silence!" a guard shouted, but nobody seemed to care. Keith and the rest of the greys made it through and now they only met a few other blues that sometimes commented, but mostly kept to themselves.

“Right, this way,” the blue guy said. They walked up some stairs and into another corridor. “That way is the bathrooms and the showers and stuff,” the blue guy said. “And this way is the sleeping quarters were you will be staying. We call it ‘the waiting room’. It’s because you wait around ‘til you get assigned your own room. it’s stupid, but literal,” he said as he stopped by the first room.

“Does any of you know each other?” he asked again. The greys shook their heads, and again, the over eager one said “No, sir,” which made the blue guy glance at him two times with a weirded look. “Okay, you two, in here,” the first two guys walked in and the blue one scribbled something down on a notepad.

“You take bunk 1 and you take bunk 4,” blue said.

“Hey, could I take bunk 1? 4 is a top bunk and I have a tendency to fall out of the bed,” Keith heard one of the greys say on the inside. “If it’s okay for your new roomie,” said blue.

There was a long pause.

“Then no, top bunk for you. Besides, it’s only temporary. You’ll be fine,” said blue, as he walked out. “Next room.”

They walked on and stopped before the very next room. “Three beds, you, you and you,” blue pointed at everyone, but Keith. “Bunk 2, 3 and 6,” he added and scribbled on the notepad again. None of these greys had anything negative to say about it, but over-eagerexclaimed “Yes, top bunk!”

“Moving on,” blue said and brought Keith further down the hall. “Here we are,” the guy said. “Now, you’re lucky, because you get to choose which bunk you want.” Keith looked in. “It’s either 5 or 6, but you get the whole thing to yourself,” the guy said.Basically what he was asking was if he wanted to sleep on the top bunk or the lower bunk.

“5,” Keith said. Blue stared down at Keith’s badge and scribbled down on the notepad once more. “Okay, bye,” blue said and he immediately walked away. Keith walked inside the room and looked at the others who was inside. None of them were wearing grey.

“Hey dude. You new?” the guy in bunk 1 asked. Keith looked at him. He was kind of big, but Keith thought he had an extremely friendly face.

“Yeah,” Keith answered as he put his stuff on his bed. “Can I ask, why are you wearing blue? I didn’t think new inmates wore that color,” Keith asked him.

“Well, because we aren’t new inmates. We get the new color once we’re assigned a bed in one of the blocks, but if we have to move, we usually spend a night or two in here, but we don’t go back to wearing grey,” he said, in which Keith commented a simple“oh.”

“So, you’ve been here a while?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, for about two years. I’m the head of the kitchen, but right now I’m just taking a break,” the guy said. A bell rang in Keith’s head.

“Wait, so you’re Hunk?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Hunk answered with a smile. “May I ask your name?”

“It’s Keith,” he answered. “Is there like a specific way you have to make your bed?” Keith asked out of curiosity. Hunk stood up and walked towards him.

“Well, the sheet gotta go on top of the mattress, obviously, and get tucked into the corners. When you’re using the bed you do what you want with the covers, but when inspection comes you gotta flip it over once and place the pillow on top near the edge,”Hunk said and right away started helping Keith untangle his sheets and place it down.

“Hey, Motherhen! We are supposed to be tough on the newcomers,” the guy on top of bunk 6 said.

“Yeah, but he’s nice,” said Hunk, as Keith looked down.

“Still, stop being such a chicken or I’ll do it myself,” the guy jumped down from his bunk and walked slowly over to them. Keith looked up at him and prepared a comeback, but Hunk hit first.

“Well, if you want to threaten my new friend here, go right ahead. Just know that you won’t be eating until you’ve apologized, publicly,” Hunk said and the guy stared back at him. His eyes twitched, and his nose flared, but he didn’t say anything. He backed off. However, instead of going back to his bunk, he left the room.

“That one is harmless. He’s part of Lotor’s crew, but they usually don’t do anything before Lotor says so,” Hunk informed Keith, while Keith stared out of the door.

“And whose crew are you part of?” Keith asked.

“Well, technically it’s not really a crew, since I have my own little thing going on in the kitchen. But I am under Shiro’s protection I suppose,” Hunk said as Keith’s eyes fixated back on him with a wider and more alarmed look than before.

“Wait Shiro’s here?” Keith asked. “Takashi Shirogane, you have to be very specific, Hunk.”

“What? You know him? Wait, good know him or bad know him?” Hunk asked by taking a step back and giving him a suspicious side eye.

“Honestly, I don't know. I mean, I stole his freaking car once, but that was like ten years ago,” Keith said. “AND he wasn’t angry about it, in fact; he just talked to me afterwards and cracked a couple of bad jokes. I mean what is up with that?!”

“Yeah that sounds like Shiro… Maybe he likes you. I mean, you obviously got some issues,” Hunk shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith counterbacked fast, louder and more furious than he wanted to.   
“Eh, nothing?” Hunks answer sounded more like a question than an answer, but Keith calmed down quickly.

“Sorry,” he muttered to which Hunk answered “no worries.”

“Just talk to him, maybe you can… work things out?” Hunk tried to reason as he leaned against the bed. “I mean, I don’t really know how to deal with your problem, but eventually you have to speak to him.”

“Why?” Keith asked because he really just wanted to avoid him completely.

“Because you’re friends (‘Well,’ mutters Keith) and you are a part of his crew now, you have to be. You don’t want to be a part of Lotor’s crew,” said Hunk and he made grand x’s with his arms to prove his point. “I mean, my best bud Lance, got threatened by Sendak in Lance’s own salon. The only reason Sendak didn’t actually assault him was because Lance was holding a razor.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so by joining Shiro’s side, I’m safe from Sendak?” Keith asked. “I’m asking because I’m tired of looking for trouble.”

“Well, no. But, Shiro will come to your rescue, and he’s got some seriously good secrets hidden up his sleeves,” Hunk smiled. Keith didn’t really know what to do. He’s got history with Shiro. Real, good history too. (Not the kind you’re thinking, pervert.) Whatever shit Keith got into, Shiro would just handle it, and he wasn’t even mad about it.

“Quiznak! Have to get to work!” Hunk said before - quick as lightning - he changed into his white chef’s uniform. Keith just stood still, staring into the void wondering what the hell Hunk had just said. “Good luck with Shiro,” Hunk said as he stumbled out of the room, hurried along the corridor and down the stairs.

“Yeah, thanks.”

 

Downstairs, in the commissary sat Matt. He was reading a book about some psychopath. His feet were planted on top of the desk and he occasionally took a sip of water.

“Hey, Matt. Can you give me a list of the new inmates?” An all too familiar voice asked Matt on the other side of Matt’s book. Matt didn’t even look up from the page; he was to captivated by the story he was reading.

“Sure,” he said, his eyes darting quickly over to the computer and his hand shot out to quickly write out a paper with the new inmates names and faces on them.

“So, were there any interesting ones?” the man asked, leaning over the counter.

“Inmate, you’re overstepping your bounds!” a CO shouted behind him. This made Matt look up at the man with an arched eyebrow. He simply turned around, slowly. The moment the guard saw the white fluff of hair that was hidden in front of his head of dark hair, he stopped in his tracks. When his steal grey eyes met the CO’s own blue ones, they stood perfectly still filled with panic and a hint of fear.

“Did, you say something, officer?” his voice sounded calm, and respectful, but the look he had in his eyes were drilling holes into the guard’s head.

“No, inmate,” the guard said, as the man arched an eyebrow. “I sneezed.” The man shuckled.

“Well, bless you, then,” the man said and turned his attention back to Matt. The guard let out the breath they were holding in and walked back to their post.

“You’re cold. I like it. Here’s the list,” said Matt and turned his attention back to his book. He held out the paper sheet and the man’s metal prosthetic hand nudged Matt’s hand as he grabbed it. Matt wasn’t faced by it, he was one of the few people in this facility that wasn’t scared of him.

“What?!”

“Quiznak, Shiro! What the hell?” Matt had spilled his cup of water and now the book was soaked.

“What did you just say?”

“Oh, it’s something I heard Hunk say. Apparently he learned it from old man Coran. It is like a swear word in his language or somethin’, I don’t know what it means, so obviously I started saying it too, and it’s a funny word,” Matt rambled on completely forgetting his wet book, even though he had just put it in his lap. “Anyways, what were you just shouting about?” Shiro’s shocked expression filled Matt with lots of curiosity. Shiro breathed out something. A tiny whisper so soft Matt couldn’t hear it.

“What?” Matt asked, but Shiro didn’t speak any louder.

“Cheesus on a cheeto stick, man! What are you saying?” Matt said, his creative line coming from the fact that he was starting to get hungry and he wondered a little bit about what Hunk was cooking in the kitchen. This time Matt could hear what Shiro said, clear as day.

“He’s here.”

“Who?”

“Keith.”


	2. He's A Criminal

Keith suddenly remembered. He was supposed to go back downstairs to Matt, to search for a job. Keith placed the bag underneath the bed, walked out into the corridor and downstairs.

Remembering the way back wasn’t exactly easy, but Keith took help from the signs on the walls. They told him that straight ahead was the cafeteria which he was reluctant to go through, but underneath the sign was commissary, same direction. Keith knew this, but he didn’t feel like going through the cafeteria, especially if it was going to be as crowded as it was before.

Keith set his feet in motion and slowly made his way towards the open space filled with tables and chairs. However, when he got there, not so many were sitting there at all. They were probably only there for the ‘welcoming ceremony’. In fact, the only two people who were in there, were sitting in the corner, playing what looked like chess.

One of them was an old guy with seriously ginger hair and an almost too perfect moustache. Keith thought he looked extremely well kempt, and so did the guy he was playing against. He was much younger though and he his tanned skin looked like it was glowing from when Keith was standing.

“Checkmate!” the old man yelled and threw his arms in the air, which earned him a low groan from his younger opponent. “This old man still got it!”

“Man!” the youngest said. Keith smiled a bit and walked on. He could briefly spot Hunk through the door to the kitchen. Keith went through the now open double doors that led to commissary. When he got close he saw Matt sitting there, his eyes plastered to the computer screen. He also noticed a book lying open completely wet.

“Hey, what happened to your book?” Keith asked. Matt looked up and smiled a slightly crooked smile at Keith.

“An asshole happened,” he snickered. “But it’s fine. I forgave the asshole,” Matt laughed silently. Keith looked at him suspiciously for a second. “Anyways! I got something for you,” Matt said and he dived behind the counter. When he came up again he was holding a box filled with a lot of stuff. He put it on top of the counter and said “here you go!” with a sing-song voice.

“What is this?” Keith asked looking extremely confused for probably the twelfth time that day.

“A gift,” Matt answered, while wearing a nice smile. When Keith asked from whom, he was told to take a wild guess. Keith thought for a moment, before putting two and two together.

“Was it Shiro?” Keith asked.

“Perhaaaaaps,” Matt pulled out the word and made a simple handwave for Keith to look into the basket. Keith saw a pair of bathroom slippers, a radio, headphones and a dramatic amount of toothpaste. What he also saw was a couple of chocolate bars. Shiro remembered that he liked chocolate.

“Who needs three tubes of toothpaste?” Matt asked him. Keith looked down into the basket.

“I don’t really know what he was thinking about that,” Matt said. “but hey, dental floss and mouth wash. Oral hygiene is important after all. But perhaps not so important so he had to give you three tubes of toothpaste.”

“Actually, I have a tendency to take to much toothpaste on my toothbrush. Maybe he remembered that,” Keith thought it was actually really sweet and he was standing there smiling like an idiot when Matt coughed slightly. Keith looked up, and when he did, his smile dropped.

“Why is he giving me all these things? Does he think I can’t take care of myself?” Keith asked Matt. Matt looked up at Keith for a second. His smile dropped too, and he suddenly got all serious.

“Don’t say that. He is showing you kindness. That is rare in here. It does not hurt to get a little help, especially in the beginning. It can help you plenty in the long run,” Matt said strictly and matter of factly. Suddenly a thud came from behind the counter and Matt doubled over in pain, his stern and strict eyes gone with the wind.

“You okay?” Keith asked and started to lean over the counter.

“It’s nothing,” Matt stood up quickly. “Here, take the basket and be grateful!” Matt pushed the basket into Keith’s arms and looked him square in the eye. Matt had said that he was extreme tall, but Keith got to see that now. “Come find us at lunch. One o'clock,” he grabbed the shutter and pulled them down.

“Wait, you were supposed to help me find a job!” Keith said, before the shutters closed completely. “I’ll help you after lunch. Get that stuff to your room. There should be a little safe next to your bed. Use it! There are thieves in this facility!” Matt said behind the shutters, but he couldn’t be heard after that.

Keith wandered back to the room and sat down on his bunk. He looked into the basket again and started thinking. Why did Shiro give him all this stuff? They’re friends, okay sure, but Keith hasn’t seen Shiro in about a year. After something happened to him, he had explained to Keith that he would be going away for a while, but he didn’t expect prison!

Keith pulled out one of the chocolate bars and started to examine it. But when he did, he noticed a piece of paper lying in the bottom of the basket. He pulled it out and unfolded it.

I hope some of it can be of use, TS.

Keith smiled to himself, and when a sudden thought crossed his mind he started laughing as well. He looked down beside his bed and saw that it was indeed a safe there. He opened it up. It wasn’t much space in there, but enough for the basket to fit. Keith also grabbed the bag underneath the bed, took out the toothbrush and soap, and put it in the basket.

He tested it first, just in case he screwed up and couldn’t get to his things. You needed to close the safe by giving it a code. 1234 Keith wrote in, just to be sure. It locked. Then he write in the same code and pushed a button and it opened. That wasn’t too complicated.

Keith put the basket inside the safe and thought up a code. He wanted something simple, but 1234 was something anyone could think of. He thought of 9876, but that was just as easy. 7531 was smart. Counting backwards from 7 and just skipping every other number down to 1. That he could remember, and it wasn’t to easy for anyone to guess.

Keith was careful with the numbers so he didn’t push anything wrong, and accidently locked all his stuff in there forever (or at least until someone fixed it for him). It locked and Keith sat back down on his bed. Now that his things were secured he could go downstairs and eat. He stared down on his covers. He had forgotten to put the note in the basket.

At that moment the grumpy guy he had been ‘introduced to' by Hunk before came back into the room. Keith quickly grabbed the note and put it in his pocket instead.

...

Matt were already seated by a table when Keith came down. Keith half expected Shiro to be there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Keith, I want you to meet Coran...” Matt gestured towards the old man sitting on the other side of him. It was the same guy Keith had seen playing chess earlier. “...and Lance.” This time Matt pointed to the younger man who sat on Coran’s right side.

“I think I saw you two play chess before,” Keith said as he sat down. Coran slammed his fist on the table and looked furious with Keith.

“You were spying on us?! Are you with the Germans?!” he leaned over the table to stare Keith in the eyes.

“Coran! He’s not German, and you’re to young to have experienced the war!” Matt said as he and Lance tried to make him sit down properly again.

“He’s a criminal! I tell you!” Coran said and tried to fight the two off.

“We're all criminals!” Lance exclaimed as though it meant nothing. Coran stopped fighting and thought for himself. His face softened immediately and he smiled brightly.

“Yes!” he said. “I forgot about that!”

“Did you perhaps also forget to take your meds today?” Lance asked him in a serious tone. Coran was quiet for a moment.

“I might,” he said quietly, sounding awfully childish.

“Okay, well, don’t forget them tomorrow,” Matt said. He started paying attention to the food line that was growing.

“We should get in line,” he said as he stood up. “Will you hold the table while Keith and I grab some food?” He asked Lance.

“Sure, just be quick,” he answered.

“We don’t really have a choice in that matter,” muttered Matt. Keith noticed that he limped while he walked towards the line, but he decided not to question it. Next to Matt, Keith felt extremely short, as the man must have been 6’3” at least. He had also very long arms, and thin, graceful hands, which he stuffed down in his pockets.

“Finally,” Keith heard someone say in front of him. What the man had reacted to, was that they had just started to serve food.

“Prisonfood used to suck before, but ever since Hunk became in charge it actually started to taste better. I mean the menu didn’t change that much, but Hunk still made it suck less,” Matt said as they slowly made it forward to the front. He didn’t seem to be joking either since Keith heard some of the inmates moan in delight when they received their food. It took a few minutes, but eventually they got served too.

The pair saw Hunk standing by the door to the kitchen. He was beaming with happiness as people ate and spoke and laughed and moaned about how the food tasted great. Keith didn’t really understand. He stared down on his plate and it didn’t look like anything special. Matt waved at Hunk, and when Hunk spotted them, he walked over.

“How’s your day been so far?’ He asked Keith on their way back to their table. Lance and Coran got to their feet right away and got in line. “It’s been okay, I suppose,” Keith answered as he sat down. Matt started eating right away and Keith stared at him for a little while. Matt didn’t seem to notice, but Hunk certainly did.

“Hey, you okay?” Hunk asked. Keith snapped out of his thoughts and stared back at him.

“Yeah. Why?” Keith asked.

“You’re not eating,” Hunk said, visibly fake hurt. Keith looked down at his food, grabbed his fork and started eating. The eggs and the bacon tasted like eggs and bacon does. He liked that Hunk had chosen to put butter beside the toast instead of directly on it. It was warm, it was a meal and it was good enough.

“‘s good,” Keith said between bites. He didn’t care to say anything else about it, scared that he wouldn’t be able to eat ever again. Lance and Coran came back a few minutes later.

“I realised that I haven’t properly introduced myself,” Coran said as he curled the end of his moustache with his left hand. “Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, pleased to make your acquaintance ,” he said, quite formally. He stood up and reached out his hand for Keith to shake. Keith, who had his mouth filled with eggs, quickly swallowed, coughed twice, grabbed Coran’s hand and shook it.

“Keith Kogane,” he said and let go. He never shook hands with Lance but he said his full name was Lance McClain.

“I work in the salon. Come by sometime and I’ll fix that hair for you. You too Matt,” he said casually and started eating.

“What’s wrong with my hair?!” Both Keith and Matt had stopped eating to demand an answer for Lance’s rudeness. Lance looked innocently at them both before answering “...nothing,” his mouth full of food, to which Matt and Keith gave one another the suspicious side eye, before Keith turned his attention back to his plate, his now empty plate.

“Can you get seconds?” He asked.

“I’m flattered, but sadly: no,” Hunk answered. “Meals are supposed to cost under 2 dollars per inmate. It used to be 1 dollar, but the administration bumped it up,” Hunk said. Keith felt slightly disappointed. He had skipped breakfast. He had been anxious about coming here, but if he had known it would be like this, he probably wouldn’t have been so nervous.

“It was good,” Keith said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a decent meal.” The others were staring at him. They were all wondering why, but they never asked. They didn’t feel entitled to.

“Hey, there was something I wanted to ask,” Keith broke the awkward silence that had dawned on the table. “Why’s there no bars in commissary? Isn’t it easy for people to steal?” Matt used a moment to wonder for himself.

“Well, there used to be. But Shiro asks the administration to take it away,” he explained. “The weird thing is that he only went into the office once, and the very next day, the bars were gone. Only the shutters were left,” Matt shrugged.

“wow...” Keith was left speechless. “He has that much power?”

“I think the administration is scared of him or something,” Lance said.

“A strong man, as tall as Matt is intimidating. It doesn’t really help when he’s got that scar on his nose and that metal arm attached to him either,” said Hunk in a hushed voice. Shock took over Keith’s face.

“What did you say?” He asked quietly. The others looked at him. Hunk stammered for a bit.

“uhh... He has a scar on his face and a metal arm.” Keith looked at him, completely frozen. He imagined him, his old friend, smiling and laughing, but his smiles disappeared once Keith imagined cold metal replacing warm flesh.

“Hey, Keith?” Matt nudged him and Keith muttered out “is he okay?”

“He’s okay. He’s fine. He’s not broken,” Matt assured him.

“Of course he’s not broken. He’s Shiro,” Keith said without looking at any of them. Keith didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt like the room was overcrowded. He needed space. He hadn’t really felt that feeling ever before. His heart was aching in his chest and he was starting to sweat, badly. He needed to get out of there. Now.

He abruptly stood up from where he was sitting and left the table.

“Keith?” Matt asked after him, but Coran put a hand on his arm. When Matt looked around again, he was already well on his way out. On his way, he bumped into some tall guy with long hair, and he muttered an apology before walking very fast out of the cafeteria and in the direction of his block.

The four remaining men sitting at the table recognised the man he had bumped into. They all stared at him with wide eyes. He was looking in the direction Keith had gone with an expression neither of them could interpret. With a shared shocked expression they all muttered out the same word.

“Quiznak...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't notice, I have changed the way of writing to past tense instead of present tense. I also updated the last chapter, changed it to past tense and cleared up some missed spells. I usually aren't this quick to update stories, but at the moment I'm not doing anything.  
> I'll try to update as quickly as I can. There's nothing major happening for the next few days so I probably will be updating very soon.  
> Hope you enjoyed :)


	3. Under The Bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a few comments asking if I watched Orange Is The New Black. 
> 
> It's the whole reason I'm writing this. I love that show so much, you have no idea. And I also wanted something dark to write about, and prison just seemed  perfect.

The remaining men at the table weren’t the only ones who had noticed Keith run straight into the one person everyone wanted to avoid. The whole cafeteria had gone silent. Even the ones serving food had stopped to see what was going on.

Lance and Coran who had their backs turned to the action stared down into their food. Hunk stood up, nervously – though no one seemed to notice – and walked back into the kitchen. Matt, who sat facing Lance and Coran, had his eyes fixed on the man.

Slowly and carefully, people started talking and moving again, but none on their table moved a muscle.

“Maybe he was lucky,” said Lance, his voice so low only they could hear it.

“Lotor knows the rules. He can’t lay a hand on the greys,” said Coran, slightly louder than Lance, but Matt wasn’t convinced. Lotor was still watching after Keith, but he stopped looking when he noticed something lying on the floor. Matt saw him bend down to pick it up and he immediately recognised it.

“Fuck,” Matt muttered, as he looked down on his empty plate for a few seconds before fixating his eyes back on Lotor. Lotor had picked up a piece of paper. He unfolded it and read it’s content. Matt saw his lips curl slightly into a smirk, before he put the paper into his own pocket.

He didn’t stay. He left, thankfully, in another direction. Matt breathed out. Lance turned around to look after Lotor. “That was close,” he said.

“No. Keith’s in trouble,” Matt answered him.

“Why? He walked away didn’t he?” Lance asked.

“Lotor knows that Keith is friends with Shiro,” Matt said. Hunk came back out of the kitchen.

“Is he gone?” He asked.

“Yeah, thanks for sticking around,” Lance said, sarcastically.

“Hey, they stopped serving food. I told them to continue. Plus, the guy gives me the creeps!”

“He gives everybody the creeps,” Lance crossed his arms. Coran turned to Matt.

“What do you mean Lotor knows Keith is friends with Shiro?” He asked.

“I mean that Shiro gave Keith a gift basket and it contained a handwritten note from Shiro,” Matt said. Lance gawked at him.

“What were you thinking?!” he asked so loud the whole cafeteria must have heard him.

“We didn’t think he would carry it around in his pocket!” Matt defended himself. “I need to tell Shiro.”

“Tell me what?” Matt was standing up to go, but at that moment, Shiro had shown up with a tray full of food. He seemed to have just come out of the shower. His hair was still wet, and there was that newly showered scent coming from him. Mat sat down again, and Shiro sat next to Matt.

“Why are you guys so quiet?” He asked as he started eating. Hunk and Lance stared at Matt. “I thought Keith was going to be here,” Shiro said. He looked over at the others.

“Matt.” When Matt heard his name, he finally managed to scramble together some of his thoughts. “Where is Keith?” Shiro had stopped eating.

“Well, Shiro, uhm...” Matt was fumbling with his words. “Keith went to his room, we think. He was uhm...” Matt tried to explain. “...distressed. He had an attack of some sort, it looked like.”

“And not one of you thought of checking upon him?” Shiro asked, his voice emitting disappointment.

“Well,” said Matt.

“Keith ran into Lotor,” Hunk said, fast. Shiro blinked. He seemed more confused than concerned.

“We have reason to believe that Lotor knows of your relationship with Keith,” Coran said, much more calm than the rest of them. Shiro looked between Coran and Matt.

“How?” Shiro asked. He didn’t seem angry or disappointed with them anymore, but he finally became more concerned with Keith.

“Keith dropped your note,” Matt said. Shiro closed his eyes and breathed slowly. The others were kind of scared he was going to snap, but he remained calm.

“I just told the administration to put him in our block, but it’s probably going to take a few days ‘til that happens,” Shiro said. He was the only one in the entire facility that called it ‘our block’. The rest of them called it ‘Shiro’s block’. He might have stopped eating, but he was still gripping on to his fork with his right hand. “I might have to _persuade_ them to let him move in tonight,” Shiro said, his grip tightening slightly around the fork.

Lance looked at the others and mouthed to them the word ‘ _persuade_ ’. The others shrugged. “You too Hunk,” Shiro said. Hunk turned his full attention to Shiro. “I’m not letting you stay in the waiting room. You can move into Lance’s room, would any of you complain about that?” He was shifting his gaze between Hunk and Lance. They both shook their heads, their nervousness wearing off slightly. They finally noticed that Shiro was only in a protective mood, not a killing one.

He let go of the fork, and it clanked against the plate. It wasn’t bent; the handle was crushed.

“But Shiro, the only rooms left in our block is single ones,” said Matt.

”Then he'll simply have to move into one of those,” Shiro answered.

“Sorry, Shiro. But Keith doesn’t seem to have any money. Like, at all. Those rooms cost money; more than what you earn at work every month,” Matt tried to reason.

“I will simply have to pay it for him then. I have money,” said Shiro, like it was nothing.

“Well. Yes, that is an option, but do you think _Keith_ will accept that?” Coran answered instead of Matt. Shiro hadn’t thought about it like that. Was what Keith had said about him earlier true? Did he honestly think Shiro thought he couldn’t take care of himself? Shiro was protective, yes, and extremely good at making problems... go away. But the only reason Shiro ever gave Keith anything was because he didn’t deserve anything less.

“He will have to accept it,” Shiro said as he stood up. “Compliments to the chef,” he smiled at Hunk before taking both his and Keith’s abandoned tray away to the kitchen. He left the trays at a table (with other trays) near the kitchen door. Then he disappeared.

* * *

Keith was terrified. He didn’t know what was happening to him. It was as if his heart was trying to escape his chest. He stumbled up the stairs and into the waiting room. No one was there to greet him, thankfully, but instead of sitting down on his bed, he knelt down on the floor. 

He wasn’t having a panic attack. He could breathe, no problem. It was his emotions that was troubling him. It was like they all tried to show at the same time. At that moment in Keith's life, it was anger, sadness and fear that outweighed the rest. Anger made him feel like his skin was on fire. Sadness made him feel like he was drowning from the inside. Worst of all was fear. It made him feel completely and utterly alone.

It made him remember that just a few months ago, he had lost his dad. After that, Keith had no one, and for a while it was okay. But what it did now was hurt. It hurt physically, to miss his dad so much.

Keith crawled his way over to his bed, but instead of going into it, he went under it. If someone came inside the room he didn’t want them to see him.

He was crying, silently. He was curling himself up into a ball and pretending.

Pretending that he wasn’t there.

Pretending that he didn’t exist.

He would give anything for what he was feeling to just go away. Everything he had, even though he didn’t have anything to give. Well, he did, but he wasn’t _that_ desperate.

Was he? Could he be?

“Keith?” a soothing voice said. Suddenly, everything he was feeling paused. Something warm was filling him instead, like a song he had heard when he was young or a breeze that just blew out the fire.

He felt safe, he felt sound. All was good.

That was until he knew the voice belonged to Shiro and it all came crashing down again.

He was angry with himself, sad that his father had passed away and terrified that Shiro was going to hate and reject him.

Shiro was standing in the doorway, and looking around the room. He was about to turn around and walk away again, until he heard a soft whimper emitting from underneath bunk 5.

Keith had accidently let out a low sound that Shiro had easily caught. Shiro walked slowly into the room, treading very lightly to not seem threatening. Keith had clasped his hand over his mouth and tried to breathe silently, but it was extremely difficult with the pain he was feeling.

Keith turned around, facing the wall. He figured if Shiro was going to look under the bed, at least he wouldn’t see his face. Keith could hear Shiro move. Shiro had sat down on the floor.

“Keith?” He whispered. Keith didn’t answer, but he couldn’t stop whimpering, and breathing shallowly and uneven. Keith had been nervous to meet Shiro, but for him to see Keith like this just made Keith feel ashamed and stupid and smaller than he had curled himself up to be.

“Do you want me to leave?” Shiro asked. Keith stopped whimpering. He didn’t answer. Shiro took it as a hint, the wrong one, and started to get up again.

No, stay!

Keith shot out his hand and gripped on tightly to Shiro’s shirt, but he let go very quickly again. Shiro smiled to himself. He leaned down on the floor and looked under the bed. He could see Keith, well... the back of his head.

“Keith? I’m going to give you a choice,” Shiro said. Keith was listening, fearing what he was going to say. “Either you come out or I’m coming in.” Keith had chosen wrong. His eyes opened wide and his tears kept falling. Keith didn’t move, but his breathing was even more shaky and uneven than before.

“No?” Shiro said. “Fine then. This is going to get cramped.” Shiro rolled over on his side and under the bed. His left arm was pushed against the bed, and Keith’s bag was lying right underneath his thighs, but he didn’t care. He didn’t dare to touch him, afraid he would upset him even more.

Keith couldn’t think straight. He wanted to touch Shiro, he did, but he was still thinking of the possibility that Shiro was just messing with him. Maybe he had changed drastically over the time they hadn’t seen each other.

Keith could feel his hot breath on his neck. Shiro was breathing steadily and just waiting for Keith. He moved his right arm under his head, which wasn’t very comfortable considering the fact that it was made of metal, but it balanced out his head better. Then he saw Keith move.

He was completely silent, but Keith moved his right hand down and placed it on his side. Shiro didn’t waste much time to try and grab it. Shiro reached out and Keith felt it. Shiro graced his fingertips slightly, and slowly entwined their fingers.

“Hi, Keith,” Shiro whispered, smiling and Keith started whimpering again.

“I’m sorry,” Keith cried, softly. Shiro didn’t understand.

“What?” He asked. He dared to place his forehead against Keith's shoulder.

“You must be disappointed,” he whimpered. Shiro still didn’t know what he was on about.

“You could never disappoint me,” Shiro said.

“You don’t even know what I’m in here for,” Keith cried, moving his head slightly, Shiro noticed.

“Keith. You could commit mass murder and I would still think highly of you,” Shiro admitted. His words made Keith laugh once between his whimpers. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Keith had completely calmed down.

“I'm going to get out now,” Shiro said. “Pack your things, you’re moving,” Shiro started to move out from under the bed. Keith stayed however. “A C.O. will come get you. Make sure you’re packed by then,” he said. Shiro didn’t take long to disappear from the room and Keith was left alone again.

Incredibly enough, the pain had gone. Now that he could realise what he was actually doing and where he actually was, he crawled out, quite quickly. When he got out, he still had this aching feeling in his heart, but he dusted of his shirt and ignored it.

He grabbed the bag he (or Shiro, most likely) had managed to flatten completely. He took his covers and pillow, rolled them up and put them in the bag. He opened the safe, 7531, and grabbed the basket. He put it inside and pulled of the sheets. Hunk had said that one usually spend some time in the waiting room before moving to a block. Why was he being transferred right away?

“Hey buddy!” Hunk said as he entered. Keith was quick to dry his face on his shirt, but all his tears had dried up already. He probably looked like a mess, and he just waited for Hunk to say something.

“Oh, so you got the news? I thought I was the one who needed to tell you,” Hunk said, and only that.

“What?” Keith’s voice was slightly broken. Hunk didn’t seem to mind though.

“We're moving. To block A. Best block if you ask me,” Hunk said.

“Why are we moving?” Keith asked as he watched Hunk pack down his things.

“You don’t want to? You’re going to get a much more comfortable room than this,” Hunk asked, avoiding his question completely. Keith’s face was stuffy now, he was sure he was as red as a tomato from all the crying. He sniffed.

“Garrett, Kogane, you’re moving... oh, you have already packed,” a guard came into the room looking surprised. “Then it won’t take much time then.”

Hunk chuckled, while Keith grabbed his bag with both his arms. Hunk threw his over his shoulder. Then they left the waiting room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sort of sad that I didn't write more, but it felt good to end the chapter right there. I won't post anything before season 7 comes out, because I can't think straight at the moment. I probably won't post anything a few days after that either (I need time to process the season). 
> 
> I also just wanted to say that I'm not a hundred percent sure if I described Keith's anxiety attack perfectly. I have had an attack like that, and I just described what I felt. That's all.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and let's all pray our team survives season 7.


End file.
